The Sun's Promise
by TheAnonymousPie
Summary: "The night's coming, and even thought the sun made us a promise to be back tomorrow, until it is, we all have to find someone we trust to guide us through the darkness, and who trusts us enough to do the same for them."


The pink-haired Konoichi charged at her opponent, holding a katana. An unusual weapon for her, but necessary under the circumstances. She advanced faster than any human eye but her enemy's could have kept track of, with her weapon raised at an angle. Anyone could see that she intended to make the blow a final one.

Her opponent, a raven-haired shinobi of the same age, held his own thin sword in a similar position, the metal glinting while chakra crackled around it in the form of lightning. His eyes were burning blood red, glaring at the girl in front of him as he ran towards her at the same speed.

The former teammates were closing in for the kill.

Memories flashed through both their minds; when they were put on team seven, their fight with Zabuza Momochi and Haku in the Wave Country, training together, making fun of Naruto's antics. All the people they had met on their journeys, all the people they were trying to save. They both fought the doubt raging in their heads, and continued on like two magnets being forced together on opposite sides. They both knew in their hearts that if at least one of them didn't die right then and there, more heartbreak would ensue, and eventually lead to war. It was unavoidable.

So why were they both so unsure?

It didn't matter. It was too late to stop them, the power in their moves had increased to a level where they would destroy anything in their way. It was, in fact, guaranteed they would both die from each other's and their own jutsus. An equal death.

They were now only yards away, accelerating with every passing millisecond. The only force fast enough to stop them had died years ago, having sacrificed himself to save Konoha, and entrusting the fate of the Ninja world to his only son...

They both felt a pang of immense guilt. Naruto...he would be crushed, but they knew he wouldn't give up on the world. Some day, he would understand that their deaths were for the better of the world. Surely he would understand...wouldn't he?

Only about two yards to go before collision. Regret saturated their minds, as both thought of the things they could have done to change the tragedy that was their impending deaths. Their eyes met, and an understanding passed between them; it would be for the better. Their weapons were poised to sheath themselves inside each other's bodies, as their chakras began to clash.

Sakura closed her eyes, then opened them again. She refused to look away. It was the only way to pacify her guilty mind. To look away would be too cowardly, and she didn't have any time left to be a coward. She would face her death head-on, the proud Konoichi she had been trained to be. She looked into the eyes of her target, which had returned to their former onyx selves, slightly muddled by the blood running from them as a result of using his Mangekyou Sharingan. She liked them better this way, even with the blood. They reminded her of the old Sasuke: proud, dignified, protective of his friends. It was good to see them that way again, even as his sword plunged towards her heart. It was a sight worthy of being her last.

Sasuke held her gaze, and he could tell that she was trying to apologize with her eyes. It made an infinitesimally small smile grace his lips. She was always saying sorry, always caring for others. She needed to learn how to not apologize...but she wouldn't get the chance, he reminded himself. He had to keep reminding himself that he was about to kill her. He couldn't hide from the fact. However, for a moment, he let himself imagine what life would have been like if he could continue living. Maybe he would settle down, someday. Have a family. A picture formed in his head of what he imagined it would be like...they were in a field on a warm, sunny day; he was training his daughter to use the Sharingan, while his wife sat under a tree, holding a bundle of blankets, making soft, adoring sounds for the infant in her arms as a breeze passed through, ruffling her light pink hair and the baby's few black strands...

He would have liked to settle down with Sakura.

Only a few feet to go...

They braced for impact, each opponent firming their grip on the weapon in their hands. It would be fast, and the pain would only last for a few seconds before their bodies shut down. Under different circumstances, it wouldn't have been a horrible way to die. They held eye contact, planning that if they were going to both kill and die by the other's hand, they had to at least repay each other by not looking away.

They were so focused that they didn't notice the flash of gold and orange until it was too late.

_Shunk-shunk!_

Sakura gasped, expecting pain to be shooting through her chest. Instead, the weapon only grazed her arm, adding a thin red line to the assortment of cuts and bruises from the battle. However, most of her front was covered in blood...if it wasn't hers, then whose...?

Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized that there was something very wrong. His entire front part of his body, from his upper legs to his neck and face was spattered in the warm, crimson liquid he had become so familiar with. Only, it wasn't his own, or even Sakura's.

It took a moment for them to realize what had shielded them from each other. There was a horrible sight between them, blood pouring from two wounds that crossed at the center of their paths, continuing through to the opposite sides of the being.

"He-hey guys.." gasped Naruto.

Both of the owners of the weapons stared with disbelieving, then horror-struck faces. The boy between them slid to the ground, slumping at the center of a red pool that was growing in size at an alarming rate.

His teammates dropped to their knees on either side of him.

"Why...?!" Sakura began, but was interrupted by a shuddering sob that racked her body.

"You...you idiot!" Sasuke stuttered, his throat tightening.

Instead of answering, their friend coughed, and blood trickled from the side of his mouth. The same mouth that was turned up in a weak smile.

"I-I final...finally g-got the hang-ng of m-my dad's..." Naruto gasped, unable to speak for a moment, but then continued, as if determined to tell them his news. "My d-dad's...Flash techni-"

He coughed uncontrollably, his body jerking with the force of the coughs. Sakura began to frantically make hand gestures for a medical jutsu, but one of her dying friend's hand seized her wrist, forcing her to stop.

"No...use," He said, still smiling weakly. Sakura's eyes widened, and she hissed through her tears, "You idiot! Let me heal you!"

Sasuke's teeth clenched with frustration. "At least let her try, Dobe-"

_"I have to...ask you..." _

They both stopped their protests. The tone of voice he used was pleading, but somehow forceful.

"You have to..." He grimaced, and clenched his eyes shut, before opening them again, the pleading look still there.

"Have to try...there's still so much..._ngh_...hate...you guys have to stay here...fix the world..." his voice was getting softer, but he still gripped Sakura's wrist, and his eyes became slightly desperate.

"Don't...let it happen again," Tears rolled down her face, and Sasuke became even paler than he was naturally, his fists clenched so tightly they shook. Naruto's grip slackened on Sakura's wrist. He was obviously trying to say one last thing, but Sakura and Sasuke couldn't hear. They both leaned in closer, and Naruto coughed a little before saying, "Tell Hinata...she was always...she was...always...Hinata...!" a single tear oozed from his left eye, making a shining trail as it traveled down the side of his face.

The light vanished from the cerulean orbs, and the hand on his young teammate's wrist slid to the ground, landing with a soft thump. The eyes, once so bright and full of happiness, hopes and dreams for the future, were suddenly dull.

Sakura buried her face in her hands, shaking with silent sobs. Sasuke glanced at her, then looked back down. His eyes fell upon the lifeless form in front of him. He didn't think he could stand to see those eyes anymore. They weren't supposed to be like that, glazed over and unseeing.

He lifted a trembling hand to the young boy's face, and taking two fingers, closed his eyes. The skin was still warm and the color had yet to leave his cheeks. If not for the blood spattered across his face, Sasuke would have thought he was asleep.

The raven-haired boy suddenly felt sick. There was so much of the red liquid, in a puddle on the floor, soaked into Sakura's clothes, running down his own neck and chest. He had once admired the color. Strong, bright, unyielding, The strongest of them all. Then again, he had once thought that vengeance would give him a reason to live.

Sakura took her hands away from her face and let them fall to the ground. She looked over to her former opponent, uncertainty in her eyes. What were they supposed to do now? They couldn't continue trying to kill each other, that much was painfully clear. So...what?

She tensed when she saw him slowly rise, but she relaxed slightly, seeing as he wasn't making any obvious preparations to attack. He was still looking down at the ground, where Naruto lay, and for a second, she thought she saw his dark eyes quaver. He eventually looked up and met her own eyes.

"Let's try not to wake him up," said Sasuke, and Sakura's brows furrowed for a moment, before relaxing again.

"Yeah...he'd be pretty pissed," she answered, feeling fresh tears form in her eyes. Silently, Sasuke picked Naruto up, ridding him of the swords still sheathed in his chest, and with Sakura's help they carried him away from the barren clearing they had created during their battle. They walked into the surrounding forest for what seemed like forever, but was probably only few minutes. They moved together in silent agreement, listening to the sounds of nature that Naruto loved so much. When they finally reached their destination, they set him down on the ground, and sat next to each other, taking in the familiar surroundings.

Sasuke leaned against the wooden stump, while Sakura sat on another. It was slowly getting dark, and the setting sun was shooting an array of colors across the sky, a final hurrah before relinquishing its hold on the world to the night. The shadows of the foliage were getting longer, beginning to stretch across the small training area towards them, as their own shadows elongated behind them.

"Do you remeber when Kakashi sensei tied Naruto up to the stump?" Sakura said quietly, trying not to disturb the peace.

"Heh...the teamwork test with the bells," Sasuke answered after a second, with a half smile. "We were so naive back then." After a second, he added, "Still are."

Sakura nodded, a sad smile on her face. She looked over to the monument erected to all the shinobi who had sacrificed their lives for Konoha. Soon Naruto's own name would be on that stone, next to his mom and dad's. She looked at Sasuke, and decided that he was no longer the same person as during their battle. He most definitely wasn't the same self as he had been before his long quest for revenge, either. They were both different from back then. The world of ninjas had changed them. However...

"I guess there's a little room for a few naive twelve-year-olds out there," she said, looking Sasuke in the eye. Yep, he definitely wasn't trying to kill her, for the time being.

"I guess so."

They watched the sunset in silence. It seemed to dawn on them eventually that they couldn't stay there forever, as much as they wished they could.

"We should get going soon," Sasuke said quietly. "They're probably missing you in Konoha."

"They're missing you, too," Sakura replied. He sprang to his feet, his voice rising slightly with anger.

"Do you honestly think I'm going to go back to Akatsuki after that?" he hissed. "I'm not so-" she cut him off.

"I'm not talking about Akatsuki, stupid, I'm talking about our friends."

He turned away so she couldn't see the pain in his expression. "How can you say that?" he asked, his voice riddled with something like guilt. "I helped Madara attack, and now their families and their friends...their home is being attacked, put in danger. I don't think they miss me."

Suddenly, Sakura grabbed his shoulder and jerked him around roughly. Before he could voice a complaint, he found her fist smashing into her face and sending him reeling backwards, skidding across the ground and stopping several yards away.

He was recovering when she grabbed his shoulder again and jerked him up roughly.

"Do you think Naruto was just talking to me when he said 'don't let it happen again?'" she hissed angrily, and to Sasuke's surprise, tears were glimmering in her eyes. "That he was just talking to hear his own voice?!"

"No, but I-" Sasuke began, but was cut off again.

"I'm not just gonna let you run away again!" she continued. "Naruto was going to be Hokage! He was going to be the leader in a revolution, an unite the villages, and change the entire damn world! And we forced him to give that up!" She let go of Sasuke, stepping back. Her voice lowered in volume, becoming less angry and more pleading.

"I'm not saying that it's going to be easy, Sasuke. You caused a lot of hurt to countless people, and ninjas don't easily forget, and they definitely do _not_ easily forgive...but you can't just give up! We...you..._everyone_ owes it it him to try to carry out his wishes, even after he's gone! If he didn't think you and I were able to make a change, then he never would have...he never would've..."

Sakura turned away, and walked over Naruto, crouching down on her knees, her hair shielding her face from Sasuke's view. She laid a hand on the boy's forehead, brushing his blond locks away from his face. Her shoulders shook a little, and he could see that there were little glistening drops of the salty matter falling from behind her bangs, landing on Naruto's face and dripping down the whisker-like markings on his cheeks, finally reaching his hairline and disappearing.

Something inside of Sasuke melted. He was suddenly possessed with the urge to run up to Sakura and...he didn't know. All he knew was that he couldn't stand to see her cry anymore.

He walked over to her slowly, and kneeled next to her. She didn't look at him, but continued to smooth down the spiky blond mane.

"Alright."

Sakura's head lifted, and she looked at Sasuke in a new light. She watched in something like fascination as a single drop of water spilled down from his right eye, and slid down the curve of his cheek to the point of his chin, where it dripped off and down to the earth, leaving a small dark spot on the ground.

There they kneeled, next to the body of their teammate, friend, brother, some would even say leader. They watched the sun begin to reach the hight of its color display, and it struck Sakura that Naruto was like a sunset. The promise the sun made, before relinquishing its hold on the world to the night, that it would be there the next day, even more brilliant. A promise that the sun left etched in the minds of those it looked down upon, with every color across the universe released in a brief, yet astounding burst of light. _Deidara may have been on to something when he said true beauty was an explosion,_ Sakura thought with an ironic smile. _He was mistaken in his own attempts to recreate it, though._

The thought of Naruto as a sunset comforted her. He would have liked the description.

Sasuke, looking across the illuminated horizon, was suddenly reminded of something young girl had once told him. The girl had been about twelve or thirteen, but was clearly in possession of a better understanding of how the world worked than most kids her age. Definitely a better one than he had when he was twelve. Her dark eyes had matched the shoulder-length, straight, brunette hair, in contrast to pale, porcelain-like skin. Tall, thin structure, but clearly not frail. He would have liked to know the girl. Before he could make any effort to say something in response, however, another girl who was probably a friend came and dragged her away, exclaiming something about a book and someone named Edward.

"The night's coming," Sasuke began, and even though she didn't look at him, he could tell Sakura was listening. "and even though the sun made us a promise to be back tomorrow, until it is, we all have to find someone we trust to guide us through the darkness, and who trusts us enough to do the same for them."

Sakura gave him a curious glance, and he explained, "I heard a kid say that once, a while ago. The sunset reminded me of it, and I thought it would be appropriate."

Her gaze returned to the sky, and she said quietly, "That's beautiful."

"I didn't think it up, the kid did."

"Smart kid."

Eventually, the sunset began to fade. Without a word, the pair got up, and starting getting ready to head back to the village.

"We can't just leave him here," said Sakura, her eyes falling on the empty body where a soul had once resided.

Sasuke thought for a moment, then kneeled down again, and beginning to make rapid hand gestures in preparation for a jutsu.

In response to Sakura's questioning glance, he said, "It's an ancient ritual the Uchiha clan performs for their dead." She nodded, but before he continued, she leaned down and placed a kiss on the boy's forehead in a sisterly way.

After a moment, he placed his right hand on Naruto's forehead. For a second, he allowed himself to process the churning memories of his closest friend, memorizing Naruto's face for the final time he would ever look upon it.

Finally, he closed his eyes, and said softly, but firmly, "Soul and Body Release Jutsu."

In a sudden blinding flash of light, Naruto's body disappeared. Sakura made a little gasp, looking around. All she saw that indicated he had ever been there was Naruto's forehead protector, lying on the ground messily.

She picked it up, using part of the cloth headband to wipe away the grime so it shined like it had when it was new, despite the many thin scrapes and shallow dents. He had always taken pride in it, insisting that it was the symbol of Konoha and as a Shinobi of the village, it was his duty to display it proudly.

She was suddenly aware of the fact that she and Sasuke were alone together. Of course, they technically had been before, but with Naruto gone, it seemed different. Years ago, she would have been ecstatic for the chance to be with him on their own, with no distractions. It was almost humorous how much that had changed.

There was silence as they stood, watching the sun disappear behind the trees. It wasn't a comfortable silence, like before. This time it was veering towards awkward.

Suddenly, as the final ribbons of light faded, there was a thin streak of golden-orange across the sky. In in instant, it was gone as fast as it had come, but it most definitely hadn't been missed. The pair looked at each other, both surprised.

"A shooting star...?" Sakura questioned, forgetting the awkwardness of the moment before.

"Maybe...I don't know..." Sasuke replied, his eyes scanning the sky as if looking for an answer. They stood there, the wonder of the event still fresh in their minds.

"We'd better get going," she said, finally.

"Hn," he replied, and she was reminded of the twelve-year-old who refused to answer anything in more than a few words.

Sakura lifted her eyes to the sky, where the brilliant sunset had been seconds before, and where the stars and the moon were now placed, casting a feeble light over thee world.

She whispered, so quietly that even standing next to her Sasuke had difficulty making out, "Good night, Naruto."

She tucked his forehead protector into the pocket of her shorts. Turning away, she looked back to Sasuke, waiting for him to join her. He was still searching the stars. Finally, lowering his eyes back to the earth and turning to join Sakura, he said quietly to the night sky,

"See you in the morning."


End file.
